Eli Kulp Bringing Philly’s High Street to the West Village

Above: High Street's red-eye danishes with Benton’s ham and coffee gravy are made by Samantha Kincaid, one of Food & Wine's 2014 Best New Pastry Chefs

One of Philly’s hottest restaurants is landing in NYC this fall. Ellen Yin and Eli Kulp will open High Street at the corner of Hudson and Horatio Streets (637 Hudson St. — previously home to Corsino). The West Village spot will be an outpost of the partners’ immensely successful High Street on Market in Philadelphia.

Kulp, who was recently named one of Food & Wine's Best New Chefs, is no stranger to New York — prior to moving to Philadelphia, he was chef de cuisine at Torrisi Italian Specialties and also cooked at Del Posto, Casa Lever and La Fonda del Sol. In 2013 he decamped to Philly to become chef at Yin’s Old City mainstay Fork, which he successfully helped revitalize. Kulp and Yin opened High Street on Market soon after, and also run side-by-side bistro and cocktail lounge a.kitchen and a.bar on Rittenhouse Square under the moniker High Street Hospitality Group.

High Street’s sophomore location will take inspiration from the original, which follows an unorthodox pattern: in the morning, it’s a counter-service cafe serving small-batch coffee and innovative pastries. In the afternoon it becomes a sit-down lunch spot serving made-to-order sandwiches and soups, and in the evening it’s transformed into an ultra-hip dinner destination with unusual ingredient-driven plates (dry aged beets, caraway rye rigatoni).

Then there’s the onsite bakery, which will also be replicated in NYC. Head baker Alex Bois is a Sullivan Street Bakery alum who is a 2015 James Beard rising star semifinalist and a Zagat Philly 30 Under 30 honoree. His loaves — in styles like vegetable ash levain, molasses-filled Anadama and roasted potato bread — are used throughout the menu and also sold whole.